This looks to me like still-not-here technology aiming to eliminate a minor inconvenience that existing technology has already all but eliminated.
Yet I must be wrong because the cell phone makers and service providers and credit-card companies employ smart people who know their customers, do their market research, and, generally speaking, make sound investments in advanced technology.
The conundrum is that it remains unimaginable to me that cell phone buyers will shell out extra money for and/or be more inclined to buy a particular mobile telephone or service because it will allow them to pay for stuff at checkout counters and vending machines by simply waving the device at a wireless reader (they may have to enter a PIN, too, which given the incremental benefits we're talking about here is no trifling matter).
I bring this up today in anticipation of what's being touted as a major announcement from one of the movers behind these so-called "wallet phones." From Reuters:
Technology for paying with mobile phones by just flashing them near reading equipment in stores or in public transport is ready, and consumers have appreciated the ease of its use in trials around the world.
The world's biggest payment card company, MasterCard, will unveil on Thursday a service for banks, enabling them to install payment cards into clients' mobile phones much easier than earlier, possibly breaking the deadlock over the market takeoff.
"We are talking to serious banks ... and not about trials, but about commercial launches," said James Anderson, a Vice President at MasterCard's mobile business.
Be still my heart.
Last night on my drive home I stopped at a Boston Market take-out restaurant and here's how I paid for my family's dinner: I handed the counter clerk my American Express, she swiped it through a card reader, and handed me a receipt. There was no PIN to enter and nothing to sign. Couldn't have taken 15 seconds.
Would waving my cell phone at a wireless reader have been easier? Not for me, because I don't normally carry my cell phone. But, yes, I suppose those who do might have shaved a few seconds off that less-than-15-second transaction.
And what's the value of that? About as close to zero as I can imagine.
Vending machines, you say; all that fumbling for cash, which sometimes isn't there when thirst beckons. Bah. Vending machine vexation was ranked number 1,273 on my list of concerns last time I checked, right between sock fuzz and the woes of Joe the Plumber.
Gas stations? Meh. Paying at the pump -- a genuine technological advance -- has already drained 99% of the pain out of settling up after filling up. I won't even get one of those keychain fobs in a chase for that remaining 1%, so why would I let it influence my next cell-phone purchase (which, by the way, is something I've been meaning to do for awhile now, so this is no idle brooding on my part).
They say wallet phones have been big overseas with users of public transit. I'm a suburbanite. As I heard it phrased recently, public transit goes from where I don't live to where I don't work.
Think for a moment about the experience that early adopters of this technology are likely to endure: You've bought your wallet phone -- paid a premium, no doubt, because those smart guys I mentioned up top aren't really doing this to make your life easier -- and now you're looking to use the thing. Uh-oh, the convenience store you stop at all the time doesn't have one of the readers and when you ask the manager about it he looks at you like you found a dead rat behind the Wonder Bread. The downtown grocery and liquor store in my town are so old they have hitching posts out front, so they won't be catering to your gadget-freak need to shave seconds off of your shopping any time soon.
Oh, sure, Starbucks and its ilk will be quick to fall into line.
In fact, all the big players -- Nokia, Sony, Vodafone, Cingular, so on and so on -- insist that wallet phones are going to be huge ... so who am I to argue.
One last thing, though: I first saw one of these wallet phones at Network World's DEMO conference maybe five or six years ago (so long ago I can't find the link). The guy from MasterCard told Reuters it'll be at least 2010 before the phones are widely available. As for the point-of-purchase readers? Well, tack on another five or 10 before they reach critical mass.
I may be wrong, all right. ... Just don't think about leaving your real wallet at home any time soon.
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I agree completely. I have never been able to understand this push to turn my cell phone into a payment device. Credit card readers are everywhere, including vending machines, so where is the huge problem that is solved by phone-pay?
Useless
These things are worse than useless. They open up an entire new spectrum of security, and reliability issues with little or no added utility. Your credit card takes up less space, does not broadcast anything, does not use batteries, and does not store any data beyond that contained in the magnetic strip.
Without utility, technology by itself won't sell. I don't see any real utility here. Why spend money to switch from a reliable mainstay to something new just because it is new. (Vista?)
Besides, when I am at the Hotel Monaco in Chicago, I order my Starbucks online using my laptop, PDA, or phone. Then all I have to do is cross the street, crowd into the store, wave my arm and holler my name, and coffee appears in my hand. Like magic. I don't need no stinkin wallet phone!
I agree completely.
My credit card broadcasts nothing into the air...
My credit card also functions if say my car breaks down in the rain and I have to walk to a gas station.
My credit card fits easily in my pocket even if I was to be doing something physically active so I wouldn't have to leave it in a bag nearby.
My credit card is FREE... sure what I buy is not free but the piece of plastic is... so if I lose it getting a new one is free provided no one with ill intentions found and used the card before I called it in as missing.
My credit card is not on the internet... my cell phone IS. No matter what they say about how those 2 functions may be separate... where there is the internet there is a way... if the 2 devices share the same hardware the internet could be used to hack the phone and tell it to sniff the packets it was sending out and then mail them to the hacker... the hacker could then use local hardware to decrypt it I bet.
I dunno I just don't trust them.
Missing the point
This whole article completely misses the point. The target for this technology is people who already carry cellphones with them everywhere. It's like complaining about phones having a clock function when everyone already has a watch. I'll be pleased to ditch plastic cards as soon as it's feasible.
I've been waiting for this to come around for over a decade. It's an obvious extension of function and it will be mighty handy once it's widely deployed.
Hope it works
I sure hope it works for you. I see both security and battery issues in your future. But good luck.
You're a big silly
I'm sure there were naysayers when credit cards first came along, especially debit cards.
"Your whole checking account available from a card? That's dangerous."
"If you get mugged, you'll lose more than just the cash on you, you'll lose your shirt--figuratively."
Sure, there will be some risk by bluetooth hackers and whatnot, but if you add a level of security to the phone, a PIN or whatever, I think it'd be safer than your actual credit cards, which, you know, display all the information you need to commit fraud RIGHT ON THE CARD.
Plus, you're less likely to misplace a phone than a credit card, and you'll notice you're missing the phone before the card. Your cellphone company could conceivably use GPS to track a stolen phone.
And about this article--so what about most people who DO take their phone with them everywhere? I thought you were supposed to be writing an article useful for them, not something useful to you and baby boomers, who I'm sure are avid readers of this website.
FAIL.
I have to agree with the
I have to agree with the folks who say you are missing the point. The issue is not making a given transaction faster. Rather, it's the whole convergence thing. If it makes sense to have a camera on your phone - and the numbers tell the story there - then it makes even more sense to have your credit / debit cards on the phone, as those are transactions that really do need to be sent back "home", the sooner the better.
BY the way, it's also worth pointing out that although for you things like public transportation and vending machines are a non-issues, that's not true for a good many people. I've been in more than one location where the only convenient access to a quick bite (including something more substantial than a candy bar) is a vending machine. I'm talking about places where people spend their entire day, or most of it. And, there are LOTS of people who actually DO use public transportation, and alot of those people actually do use smart phones.
Yes, there are security concerns, but so do the "blink" cards than many banks have tried to use. No one seems to have objected, although I'm getting the sense that the function didn't get too much use. So, in fact, do cell phones, period. But people DO use their cell phones to check their minutes and their bank balances, so what makes you think they won't take the risk for the real convenience of not having to carry a wallet?
Two analogies don't hold up
"Togolosh" dismisses my dismissal of the "wallet phone" capability by likening that capability to manufacturers providing a time function on phones even though everyone wears a watch. Well, if providing that time function were to have taken a decade of R&D, the cooperation of three gargantuan industries, and a massive rollout of equipment to an untold number of third parties, I'm quite sure it would not be there today (and we would still be OK because we're wearing watches). ... As for "Anon's" comparison of the payment function to camera phones, that one fails because the camera function is providing users with a distinct and significant capability that they otherwise do not carry on their person. The "wallet phone," aside from potentially saving a few trivial seconds per transaction, is merely duplicating the functionality provided by my "wallet wallet."
get off of my lawn!
I am still having a hard time figuring out whether you intended this to be satire or not....
Regardless, your personal viewpoint on the worthlessness of this particular technology is somewhat diluted by the fact that it is widely used in Europe and other areas of the globe.
Maybe it's not for you
While I enjoyed the author's humor in this article, it's evident that he probably doesn't stay on the leading edge of technology. He may as well have said, "Wallet Cell Phones? BAAAAAAAAH!!"
That's ok. New ideas and new technology aren't meant to be adopted by everyone all at once. My grandpa will probably never download a ringtone in his life, but his phone works just fine for him.
Those of us who ARE ready for this technology will be glad to have it.
Cell phones are already used as payment for services in other countries - I swipe my suica cell phone to get on the subways in Tokyo everyday and couldn't be happier for the convenience.
This service won't be available at every gas station any time soon, but the places where it makes the most sense will adopt first. And as that momentum builds, eventually every corner Boston Market will be equipped to accept wallet cell phone payments.
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